Astronomy 

Share

Latest news on astronomy, covering astronomers, telescopes, black holes, galaxies, exoplanets, supernovae, comets, asteroids, dark matter, cosmology, astrophysics, meteor showers, eclipses, aurora and the night sky.

Astronomy is the scientific study of everything beyond Earth, from our Sun and the planets of the solar system to distant stars, nebulae and galaxies. Astrophysicists use physics to explain how stars form and die, from white dwarfs and neutron stars to black holes, and how pulsars and quasars shine across the universe. Cosmologists ask even bigger questions about the big bang, dark matter and the fate of the cosmos, with distances measured in light-years.

Modern discoveries rely on powerful telescopes on the ground and in space. The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in December 2021, studies the early universe and the atmospheres of distant exoplanets in infrared light, while the Hubble Space Telescope has returned sharp images since 1990. Europe's Euclid mission surveys the dark universe, and gravitational wave detectors and neutrino observatories reveal events that light alone cannot show. Astronomers also debate how to protect dark skies from light pollution and satellite trails.

Astronomy belongs to everyone. Eclipses, meteor showers, comets, aurora and bright planets draw crowds for stargazing, while amateur astronomers help to track asteroids, spot supernovae and share photographs of the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the constellations and the Milky Way. Stunning space photography regularly inspires new generations to study science.

People have watched the sky since ancient times, using it for calendars, navigation and myth. Galileo's telescope in the early 17th century showed moons around Jupiter and changed our view of the solar system. Later work on relativity, spectroscopy and radio waves led to the discovery of galaxies beyond our own, an expanding universe and the icy Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune.

Our NewsNow feed brings together the latest astronomy headlines in one place, from telescope images and exoplanet discoveries to black hole findings, cosmology research, dark matter studies and sky events you can watch yourself. Follow the science of the universe as it unfolds.